Nainita Desai

About

Nainita Desai is an Emmy-winning composer whose genre-spanning scores have made her a leading voice in contemporary screen music. She has amassed a multitude of awards and nominations, including an Emmy for The Reason I Jump, RTS craft, IFMCA, SCL and World Soundtrack Award Discovery Of The Year wins and numerous nominations from the Ivor Novello, BIFA, Critics’ Choice and Cinema Eye Honors juries. 

In 2025 she captured ASCAP’s top video game prize for her score to Tales of Kenzera: Zau and her title theme for the Disney+/AMC fantasy series Nautilus (starring Shazad Latif) earned a nomination for Television Theme of the Year.

Her current slate spans high-profile television dramas, feature documentaries and triple-A video games. Desai has scored the Disney+/AMC/Prime Video adventure series Nautilus, all three seasons of ITV’s crime drama The Tower (starring Gemma Whelan, Jimmy Akinbola) and EA’s acclaimed game Tales of Kenzera: Zau. On the festival circuit she is celebrated for the Sundance craft-winning documentary Nocturnes (Cinema Eye 2025 nominee) and Hulu’s headline-grabbing doc The Contestant.

She has also written for scripted series including BBC One’s Crossfire (starring Keely Hawes), Sky’s Funny Woman (starring Gemma Arterton) and StudioCanal’s feature Something in the Water. Her passion for natural history is evident in landmark series including The Wild Ones (Apple TV+), Earthsounds (Apple TV+), James Cameron’s Ocean Xplorers, National Geographic’s Secrets of the Penguins and Predators (Netflix).

Desai gained international acclaim for her scores to the Oscar nominated and Bafta / Cannes winning For Sama, Netflix’s 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (Primetime Emmy nominated score), Body Parts (Emmy nominated score) and the hit A24/Netflix film The Deepest Breath. She has scored multiple No. 1 Netflix documentaries of the year, from American Murder: The Family Next Door to What Jennifer Did.

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